Tuesday, February 26, 2008

When it rains it pours

On the new containers, the illustration is of a little girl holding an umbrella in one hand and a plain, round, blue container, presumably Morton's Salt, in the other. Very simple.

On the old containers, however (see photo), the little girl is also holding an umbrella in one hand, but in the other she's carrying a container that's clearly Morton's Salt — with an illustration of a little girl holding an umbrella in one hand and a container of Morton's Salt in the other.

… and no this is not a typo where I inadvertently copied a line over and over. The graphic is carried out to infinity, with each little girl carrying a container picturing a little girl carrying a container … and so on to infinity.

At a launch party for "Murder in Miniature" last week, I had the feeling I was in a Morton's Salt ad.

The photo shows the outside of a miniature bookstore. In the bookstore window are small copies of my book and a sign advertising the event that I was doing in the life-size venue, which also had a sign advertising the event.

Confused? Sorry. It's hard to explain.

But what's easy to explain is the wonderful reception I had from fellow miniaturists who were so happy to have a series of their own, so to speak. Let's hear it for niche marketing. The mini shop was built by a crafter who bothered to personalize her store for the day. [Thanks, Donna!]

Writing is a funny business, where one day you get a rejection or a bad review. Or you may be seated next to a superstar at a conference, watching her signing line wrap around the corner while you signal your friends to keep you company.

But the next day you feel like you might actually be contributing to the pleasure of the reading public.